


Wrong Place, Wrong Time

by Hannah_BWTM



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Captive Push, Hostage Situations, It's really nobody's fault this time, Whump, bound and gagged
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:08:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hannah_BWTM/pseuds/Hannah_BWTM
Summary: JT and Malcolm run into trouble when a routine interview for a case turns into something they never expected when a neighboring criminal gets a little too paranoid. Mainly from JT's POV (for something different from me).Filling the 'Captive Push' square on my Bad Things Happen Bingo card, and kinda fills the 'collared' Whumptober prompt.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ProcrastinatingSab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/gifts).



> So I waited and waited for a collared Whumptober prompt for PSon and nothing really came up. This is gifted to Sab as she inspired me to write one of my own. The next chapter will be up in a few days. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Okay, cops. It’s time for you to make yourselves useful.” Twitch yanks on the rope tied to the collar around Malcolm’s neck, and with his arms taped behind his back he has no choice but to follow. A pull at his waist tells him that JT didn’t manage to sync his movements with Malcolm’s, and for the briefest of seconds Malcolm deals with the unusual sensation of being pulled in two different directions. His cry of alarm is muffled by the duct tape over his mouth, moments later he feels relief as the pressure around his waist disappears once JT starts moving. Mouse holds another rope attached to JT’s waist behind him, and together the quartet start making their way to the apartment complex door. Twitch turns to their captives before they walk through the door with a final warning.

“No heroics from you two. You’re coming with us until we can get safely out of the boroughs. You try anything and I’ll start shooting into the crowd, and I’m guessing you don’t want that. You got us into this mess, you’d better be fuckin’ sure you’re going to get us out of it.”

The emergency exit door squeaks as it’s opened, the sight of the dark stairwell giving way to a police cordon with lights flashing, reporters lining the streets and a single black van parked in front of the cordon, the driver’s door and sliding side panel open.

“Let’s go.” Twitch orders, tugging once again on the rope in his hand.

 _He thinks_ we _got him into this mess? We weren’t even looking for them!_ Malcolm thinks.

And for once, he’s right.

***************************************

**90 minutes earlier**

As JT and Malcolm wander up to the entrance of the apartment complex JT finds himself giving his partner for the day the side eye. The compact profiler had a manic buzz to him today, finding every step and curb to hop on to as they walked. “Bro, we are never buying you a caramel latte again. I didn’t think you could get any more…”

“More what?” Malcolm beams.

“More _Bright_.” JT finishes.

“I’m always Bright! You know you love me right?” Malcolm teases.

“Like a hole in the head. Can you at least try to rein it in while we check out this lead?”

“Sure thing, got it. Which contact of this vic is this again?”

JT consults his notepad before answering, “Their dog sitter. Apparently, the guy had been dropping off his cavoodle for more frequent visits recently, they might remember something about whether there was a change in behaviour before he was killed.”

“Right, right. This should be a breeze, dogs _love_ me.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” JT mutters.

Twenty minutes and one dead end interview later the pair exit the ground floor apartment and end up back in the hallway.

“Where to next for our investigation?” Malcolm asks. “Maybe another apartment with a Yorkshire terrier? I told you they loved me.”

“Let me call Gil and check, he’s two buildings up.” JT deadpans. As he fumbles for the pages of contacts to track down neither man notices the apartment door that’s slightly ajar two doors down from their interviewee’s place. Neither man is prepared for the object that connects with the back of their heads, sending them sprawling onto the floor and sinking towards unconsciousness. JT he feels his ankles lift off the floor as someone starts to drag him backwards.

“You get the little one, get him in here quick.” A voice whispers urgently, then the darkness becomes all consuming and he feels no more.

*************************

When JT comes to he discovers he’s still lying on the floor, his face resting on a sticky linoleum floor in a pattern he recognises from the apartment they just visited. As he opens his eyes further he makes out the shape of Bright next to him on the floor, his hands bound together with silver duct tape. A quick check of his own hands find they are also taped behind his back, and a test of his feet find they are bound together as well. None of this makes any sense, he needs to wake up and fast to figure out what’s just happened.

While he waits for the signals to his brain to finish firing up after his unexpected nap he listens for any sounds. He can hear a panicked voice above his head whispering urgently to someone else in the room, a blessing for his pounding headache. “We need to let them go. How can you know that they’re on to us?”

A calmer voice responds, “You heard what they said Mouse, they’re investigating something. In our building. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“You’re paranoid, Twitch. They walked straight past our place, and now we have to explain this to cops!”

“We just need to find out what they know, then we’ll figure out what to do from there.”

“I don’t like how you _figure things out.”_ Mouse sounds skeptical of his friend’s promise. That’s not a good sign.

The discussion is interrupted by Bright’s sudden jerky movements and cries. He rolls onto his back and starts bobbing his head back and forth, in the midst of a night terror.

“Oh my god, what is wrong with him?” Mouse frets.

“I don’t have time for this shit.” Twitch grumbles, before standing over Malcolm and slapping him hard in the face. It’s enough to jolt the profiler out of the nightmare he was in, though he is no less coherent when faced with the scraggly man stood above him.

“Not my eyes! Not my eyes!” Bright cries. He’s flashing back to the night with Eddie and his father in Claremont.

“What the fuck are you on about, I’m not doing anything to your eyes! Maybe I should hit you again, huh?”

JT weighs up the benefits of a second hit to the head in the same day and figures it’s time to make his presence known. “It’s just a nightmare, give it a minute.”

Twitch’s focus snaps towards him immediately, and JT hears Mouse in his periphery start to repeat “Oh my god” over and over.

“Hey there, cop. We need to talk.” Twitch states.

“Look, I’m not sure what’s happening here, but I can guarantee that you’ve got the wrong idea.” JT intones, trying to keep his voice neutral until Bright wakes up.

“Do I?” Twitch scoffs. “I heard you in the hallway, you’re conducting an investigation! I need to know how much trouble we’re in. If I have to the let the team know to regroup.”

“I’m not following.” JT replies, and it’s the truth. His headache is making it harder to process the words he’s hearing, and Twitch’s mention of a team makes no sense in relation to their finance banker’s murder investigation.

“Our plans! To hit the next store! That’s the investigation you’re looking into, right?” Twitch shouts.

 _Store? There’s no mention of any robberies in the vic’s background_ JT thinks. His captor needs an answer, but his quick glance at Malcolm proves useless as he’s still trying to get his bearings after being slapped awake. Unsure of what move is the right one, he goes with the truth. “My partner and I are from the Major Crimes unit, we’re investigating a homicide. We came to interview the victim’s dog sitter.” 

“You what?” Twitch double takes. It wasn’t an answer he was expecting.

Mouse breaks his OMG loop to stomp over and push Twitch in the shoulder, panic turning to anger in seconds. “See? They weren’t even here for us, and now look what you’ve done!”

“JT?!” Bright gasps, bringing everyone’s attention back to him. “What’s happening?”

JT answers before their new friends can. “It appears we’re caught up in an episode of ‘mistaken cop’. But we don’t know anything, so we can sort something out, right?” He speaks slowly and maintains eye contact with the one called Twitch, hoping the man doesn’t want to make things worse. 

Doubt about his plan starts to cloud Twitch’s face, and JT hopes that he’s moments away from de-escalating what could be a very bad situation. The hope is shattered by a sharp banging on the door to the apartment.

“NYPD!! Can we ask some questions please?” JT and Malcolm look at each other with dread. The voice is Gil’s.

Twitch grabs the heaviest object he can find and holds it in his hand as a threat to keep both captives quiet.

“What do we do now, Twitch? We can’t hide them, there’s not enough room!” Mouse whispers.

Twitch is silent for a moment, weighing up his options. Bright must see something that JT can’t because a second later he’s shouting as loud as he can,

“WE’RE TRAPPED IN HERE, GIL! TWO MALES, ONE WITH“ Bright doesn’t get to finish as Twitch throws a boot into his side. JT doesn’t dare call out with any extra details while his captor looms over Bright in such a threatening way. The banging on the door is louder and more frantic, Gil’s shouting their names again and again before Twitch calls out,

“You come in here and I’ll kill them!”

Mouse looks horrified, and JT feels like the cable in the elevator he was standing in just snapped.

The banging stops, but Gil calls through the wood one more time. “There’s no need to lose any lives today, let’s work something out.”

Twitch considers the offer for a moment before replying, “I want you out of this building, and a van out the front in half an hour. I want promises nobody will follow us. Cross me and your friends will pay for it.”

There’s silence before Gil’s cracked voice travels through the door once again. “I’ll see what I can do. Just… don’t hurt anyone.”

Gil doesn’t speak again, and JT can only assume he’s left as he was directed, and to call for backup. JT knows they’re in trouble, the NYPD doesn’t negotiate and would never agree to those terms. But their captors don’t need to know that just yet.

Mouse paces frantically back and forth across the room, shooting disbelieving looks at his friend. “We’re going away for this, you know that, right?”

Twitch looks unconcerned. “They won’t risk losing two of their own.”

*****************

There’s noise outside the apartment in the minutes after Gil leaves the door, no doubt evacuating neighbours as the hostage situation is contained.

Twenty minutes passes by and Malcolm tries to open a dialogue with his captors. They’re not interested in one. As the minutes tick over the stress of the situation builds until Malcolm can feel a ball of anxiety in his stomach. He thrives on information to talk people around doing rash things, but since JT admitted to them that they didn’t know a thing about their scheme the two men had clammed up completely. No information means there’s nothing to extrapolate, no weakness to exploit. He can’t help himself from this side of the door.

After the fourth attempt to strike up a conversation Twitch threatens to tape his mouth shut. Malcolm wisely stops talking at that point. Though he can’t understand what’s forced Twitch into this pressure cooker of a situation Malcolm can see that he is impulsive. No sense in upsetting the apple cart. So now Malcolm can only wait on his back, sharing his glances between JT and their captors. Right now, he’s staring a very nervous looking Mouse.

“What do we do if they bring the van?” he asks.

“Easy, we’re gonna bring these two with us.”

JT lifts his head off the floor slightly, wincing as he goes to ask, “You wanna what?”

“We’ll be untouchable if we take two cops as hostages. If we’re close enough together they won’t be able to shoot at us.” Twitch explains.

“Uh, that’s not how the NYPD works.” JT says.

Twitch shrugs, “Maybe not, but that guy at the door cares about you. Let’s see just how much.”

“How are we gonna move them, have you seen that big one? He’s built like a brick shithouse!” Mouse complains.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got an idea. I saw this episode of Hawaii Five-O once, these guys who were much smaller than McGarrett walked him through the woods by a rope around his neck. We’ll just tweak it a bit. Start looking for some rope in this damn apartment.”

The two men start rifling through drawers in other rooms, coming up with various lengths of rope and tossing them on the table. Malcolm tries to talk to JT to figure out an escape plan which their captors are busy, but he gets caught by Twitch. The man smashes a lamp at the wall in frustration and tapes both of their mouths shut. 

“No more talking for you two. Can’t have you coming up with any ideas now, can we?” Twitch asks himself, two furious glares the only response he gets. Satisfied he can focus back on the task at hand he turns to see Mouse looking up from the rope with a pained expression. 

“The rope’s not long enough.” 

“What do you mean, it’s not long enough?” 

Mouse grabs the strands and shakes them. “I _mean,_ none of these are long enough to tie around both of them. Or even one of them.” 

“Fuck. Can we get more rope?” Twitch asks. 

Mouse shakes his head. “Not in here.” 

Twitch sits on it for a minute for a light bulb dings above his head. “I’ll be right back.” He opens the door to the apartment and walks up to the dog sitter’s place. The door’s unlocked, most likely forgotten in the panic of evacuating the building. Hung on the wall is a bunch of leads and collars for her clients, perfect for what he’s looking for. He grabs a bunch and sprints back to their apartment. He stares at their two hostages, making quick calculations. He calls out to Mouse,

“Bring me the little one.”

Mouse sits on Malcolm’s legs and cuts the duct tape, limiting his ability to lash out at the diminutive man. He manages to haul Malcolm to his feet and position Malcolm in front of Twitch, who is holding out one of the dog collars.

“Your friend from earlier is lending me a hand, aren’t you happy?” Twitch finds a thick red leather collar that fits around his neck, and he tightens the buckle while Malcolm stares daggers at him.

“There we go, that’s one problem solved.” Twitch moves to pick a length of rope to tie through the collar when there’s an unexpected knock at the door.

“What the fuck do you want?!” Twitch shouts.

Gil’s voice drifts through the door. “It’s the NYPD again, just letting you know your truck is here. Are our people alright?”

“They’re fine, they just can’t talk right now. We’ll be out in a minute.” Twitch replies.

There’s no other sound from the door, and Twitch goes back to trussing up his captives. JT proves a harder challenge, his larger stature makes a dog collar impossible to fit, so Twitch improvises with rope around his waist. When the last knot is tied Twitch grabs a duffel bag laying on the couch and pulls out a handgun.

“Okay, let’s do this.”


	2. Chapter 2

The only saving grace about trying to hatch an escape plan during the day is that the police lights aren’t as bright when the sun’s out. It doesn’t quite manage to dull the feeling of being overwhelmed at so much movement outside the apartment. Both Twitch and Mouse stay very close to JT and Malcolm, whose movements are limited to how fast Twitch wants to walk. His pace once they reach the car park bitumen is glacial, but it gives Malcolm and JT the opportunity to scout the faces in the crowd for the rest of their team. Malcolm finds them first, the muffled cry in his throat is enough of a signal for JT to match the angle of his head and find them with his own eyes.

Gil and Dani are standing at the front of the cordon in line with the back of the van. Dani’s face is tense, her eyes focussed as she absorbs the display in front of her. JT knows she’s looking for any clues that might help find them later, he wishes he had the ability to shout something at her. Gil’s face is another story. Gil looks distraught, and as much as JT might flatter himself to think he might have anything to do with that, he knows that it’s Gil’s concern for Bright that has him so grief stricken. JT locks his stare on the two of them, determined that if they don’t see each other again his partners and friends are some of the last faces he will see.

The rag tag group finally reach the door to the empty van and are summarily pushed in by Twitch. The rope is still tied between the two men so when Bright falls in JT has no choice but to follow. He can’t help it as his heavy frame barrels into Bright, crushing him momentarily before he can awkwardly roll away. Bright wheezes through his nose when JT is off his chest, and he can’t help but feel a pang of guilt at causing more pain for the profiler.

Twitch climbs in and ties the rope from Malcolm’s collar to a tie down ring in the floor of the van, trapping the two men in place. The door slides shut, leaving the two men in virtual darkness save for the light from the front windscreen. Twitch and Mouse climb into the front seat and high five each other.

“I can’t believe this worked! They left the driveway clear and everything!”

Mouse grins nervously, “Let’s get out before they block it off.”

Twitch puts the van in gear and they roll slowly past the police cars and onto the main street. There are more whoops and cheering when they discover no road blocks as they make their way out of Manhattan and towards the suburbs.

JT rests his head on the floor, feeling slightly nauseous from the swaying in the van. He’d always been the kind of person who needed to see the direction he was travelling, and laying on his side with no windows was less than ideal for his sense of balance. He couldn’t close his eyes though. The sight of Malcolm laying opposite him won’t let that happen. JT had no idea what was going through Bright’s head, but it definitely wasn’t good. His breathing was rapid, his normally sharp eyes were unfocused and darting all over the place, and tears were flowing down his cheeks intermittently. JT figures the lack of light in the van must be triggering a memory, and right now the only thing that Malcolm can focus on is him. So, he keeps his eyes open, staring straight back at his friend. Anchoring him to the present so Malcolm doesn’t get lost in the past. 

JT feels in his gut that they’ve been on the road way too long for his liking. Their captors are relaxed, joking around and figuring out where to drive to. Deciding on New Jersey the conversation turned towards what to do with their hostages. In Twitch’s mind they were now expendable.

“We’ll shoot them in the van, then find somewhere on the interstate to dump ‘em.” Twitch suggests.

“I didn’t sign up to kill anyone, this is all your fault!” Mouse complains. “We can’t kill them, they’re cops! Our faces will be all over the news if we do that!”

“We got this far with my plan, didn’t we?! There are so many trees around here nobody will find their bodies. Trust me.”

Listening to the discussion of Twitch’s macabre plan JT can’t help but think of Tally and their magic little bean at home. He couldn’t have known that a simple interview would have gone off the rails like this, and the last time she might have seen his face was on the news through one of the many cameras that were recording outside the apartment block. He may never get to meet his child, through a cruel twist of fate that he couldn’t blame on anyone. First the army, now the NYPD. If this was the end, he hoped Tally would forgive him for the live of service that he chose.

The ride is gradually becoming bumpy in the back, and Twitch grows tired of fighting with the steering wheel. “Check the mirrors would you? Something’s not right.”

Mouse ducks down to inspect the side of the vehicle, swearing before relaying that they have a flat tyre at the back of the van.

“Unbelievable. Motherfucking police can’t do anything right.” He slows the van’s speed and pulls over to the hard shoulder. JT and Malcolm share a look, and they’re both on high alert. The chances of a flat tyre was miniscule, this could be part of a larger plan. JT nods to Malcolm to see if he understands, and the curt nod he returns is all JT needs to know. Both men are temporarily blinded when Twitch slides the side door open, knife in hand. Their blindness is long enough to thwart any attempt they could have made to disarm Twitch in the tight space of the van. JT attempts a spin to position his legs better, but is rewarded for his actions by a stab in his lower leg. The knife misses the bone and settles in his calf muscle, and the tape over his mouth muffles a scream when Twitch yanks the knife back out.

“Stupid move, cop.” Twitch pulls JT by his legs as he heaves through the pain, closing in on him with the knife once again. JT braces for the pain from the next stab wound that is surely on its way, only to feel a tug at his waist as the rope tying him to Malcolm is severed.

“Get up cop, you’ve got a tyre to change. No way I’m changing a tyre on a highway, I’ve watched YouTube.” JT is hauled out of the van and thrown onto the ground. Before JT can get his bearings, Twitch is back in the van, grunting a bit before he drags Malcolm out as well, holding the knife to his throat. “Do what I tell you or your friend is dead.”

As JT focuses on getting back on his feet, he notices the outline of a familiar car pulling up behind them. Neither of his captors have noticed that they’re about to have company, so JT stretches out his efforts to stand. Which, considering his current level of motion sickness and recently stabbed leg, isn’t that much of a stretch. It comes as a relief when the doors to Gil’s Le Mans open and Gil and Dani leap out of the car, guns drawn.

“NYPD, don’t move!” Dani shouts, and the shock is written on everyone’s faces as they turn to face JT’s the other half of the Major Crimes team. Dani is tamed fury, and Gil is determined. They each have their weapons trained on one captor each; Gil is trained on Mouse and Dani is on Twitch. Twitch has moved Malcolm in front of him and his holding the knife at his throat, probably a move he learned from a crime show on Netflix.

JT’s noticed that he’s forgotten one tiny detail though. The thick red collar is still buckled around Malcolm’s neck, so any immediate threat from the knife to Malcolm is diminished somewhat. With Mouse holding no weapon, behind him and to the side JT forms a plan. It’s not a great one, but it’s all he’s got.

Sizing up Twitch while he’s distracted by Gil and Dani, JT spares a thought for Tally and the baby before he charges into Twitch like a defensive lineman. He angles his shoulder into the side of Twitch’s back, hoping to separate Malcolm from his captor as JT takes him down.

His aim is true. 

Ignoring the jarring sensation rippling through his shoulder JT focuses on pinning Twitch to the floor with his body as Malcolm is able to stumble away from the van and into the safety of Dani’s arms. Twitch is struggling underneath him, but JT’s weight has managed to pin his upper arm underneath his body. The kidnapper can’t move his arm to strike anyone, and within seconds Gil kicks the knife out of his hands and snaps a cuff around Twitch’s exposed wrist.

“I got him, JT, thanks.” Gil claps him on the shoulder, and JT sags for a moment before he finds the strength to get back onto his feet. It takes longer than he expects because of the stab wound in his leg, and he wobbles on the way back up. Once he’s upright again he can see Dani has picked up the knife and is cutting through the duct tape on Malcolm’s wrists. As soon as Malcolm’s hands are free, they go straight to the buckle on the collar around his neck. When it’s off he unpeels the tape from his mouth and gulps in huge lungfuls of air, bracing his hands on his knees as he does so. The relief on his face is palpable.

Dani checks to make sure Bright’s in no immediate danger of passing out before she helps JT out of his restraints. “That was some move there, Aaron Donald.”

“It was the only move, Powell.” JT twists his wrists to release some of the stiffness in them. Three badged squad cars are now pulling up behind Gil’s Le Mans, sirens and lights blazing. Uniformed backup arrives to take Twitch and Mouse into official custody while Major Crimes huddles together for a reunion of sorts.

Concern clouds Gil’s eyes as he asks, “You two alright?”

Bright looks over to JT for a moment before he nods for the both of them. “I think we’ll be fine. Thanks for coming to get us.”

Gil claps a hand on Bright’s shoulder and manages a smile. “We never lost track of you, kid.”

Bright looks a bit confused at the choice of words, and instantly the lack of police vehicles they encountered on their journey fits. “You low jacked the van.”

“Your kidnappers forgot to mention that GPS systems weren’t allowed in the van, and we figured this would be the safest way to avoid a shootout in a parking lot.” Gil explains.

JT furrows his brow and he wonders, “Why did you wait so long to rush the van? I thought we’d be dead before the state line.”

“The tyre didn’t deflate as quickly as we had hoped.” Dani answers. She smirks at JT’s surprised expression. “They didn’t demand four working tyres either, but it had to be a slow leak so you wouldn’t notice when you all piled in.”

“We did wonder if it was part of a plan. Thanks guys.” Bright concedes.

“Do you either of you need a hospital? I’m pretty sure we got a bus on the way. How’s that leg?” Gil looks to JT’s bloody calf.

“I’ve had worse in combat. I really just wanna get home, Gil.” JT admits. His leg and shoulder is throbbing, and he still feels woozy from the van ride, but Gil doesn’t need to know that right now. He can handle it.

Gil reviews the scene before he claps his hands together. “Well it looks like the unis have our suspects in custody and the van in hand, what say we head back to the precinct for statements and a debrief?”

“Debrief on this debacle, or debrief on our pointless interview?” JT queries.

“Probably both. You manage to get anything from the dog sitter?”

“Oh yeah, we found out that Yorkshire Terriers love me.” Bright grins.

“Man, if I hear about that dog one more time….” JT warns.

“I told you JT dogs love me. It’s only a matter of time before you do too.”

“That remains to be seen, but today is not that day. Now, someone lend me their phone so I can call Tally. She needs to know little bean’s papa is coming home tonight.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed it! And thanks to Sab who helped me work out some plot points that were giving me some trouble. As always, you can find me on the PSon trash server hanging out with the coolest bunch of people in town.


End file.
